Holland House unveils inaugural debut prize shortlist with Booker nominee Jennings

Indie publisher Holland House has revealed the inaugural shortlist for its prize championing African writers, held in partnership with Booker-longlisted South African author Karen Jennings and Karavan Press.

It comes as the author announces her decision to stay with the micropress to publish her second book, Crooked Seeds.

The Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa is named after Jennings’ novel, which made the Booker Prize longlist in 2021. The aim is to give writers from the continent and its diaspora the opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience, with the possibility of feedback, mentoring, meeting with a potential agent and publication both in the UK and South Africa. The prize organisers define the term "African writers" as authors born in or having citizenship of any African country.

The judges include Jennings, award-winning Ugandan writer Hilda J Twongyeirwe and Nigerian novelist and short-story writer Obinna Udenwe.

"As African writers, we are often faced with a double dose of challenges," Jennings said. "Firstly, getting published within African countries can be incredibly difficult because local publishers are often constrained by finances. Secondly, for many writers getting published overseas is almost impossible because the rest of the world has certain ideas of what an ’African story’ should be. Having experienced these challenges first-hand—being told that a novel is ‘too African’ or ‘not African enough’—I know how important it is that stories from Africa be given a wide variety of platforms so that they can be shared at home and abroad without the need to fit certain moulds. 

"I am proud to be part of The Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa, a competition where the judges are African and where the winners have an opportunity of being published both in the UK and in South Africa. This is one step towards bridging the gap between here and there, us and them. In fact, it is through prizes like these that authors across the continent can gain the confidence to tell stories as they wish. The hope is that, with time, such stories will become appreciated across the globe, without first being labelled as an exception or a surprise."

Authors were invited to send a one-page summary and the first three chapters, or 10,000 words of a complete debut novel. Entries were open only to those who have not had a full novel published before. Three entries will be chosen, with prize money of £500 for first, £300 for second and £200 for third place. All three will be considered for publication, with their authors introduced to an agent. The winners will be announced in the first week of May. 

Jennings, who is now represented by Lucy Luck at Conville & Walsh, has decided to stay with Holland House for her next book, Crooked Seeds, which is due out in early 2023. She is pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship as part of the Biography of an Uncharted People Project through LEAP (Laboratory for the Economics of Africa’s Past) at Stellenbosch University. This will involve her writing a novel arising from the project’s research.

The 2022 Shortlist
A Darkness with Her Name On It by Doreen Anyango (Uganda)

Single Minded by Marina Auer (South Africa)

Sand Roses by Hamza Koudri (Algeria)

Glass Tower by Sarah Isaacs (South Africa)

Delightful Cage by Joyce Nwankwo (Nigeria)